Field of the Invention
This invention relates to color cathode ray picture tubes, and is addressed particularly to the unexpected problem of dimensional instability in tension-type shadow masks which arose during heat cycling of such tubes during tube manufacture.
The use of the foil-type flat tension mask and flat faceplate provides many benefits in comparison to the conventional domed shadow mask and correlatively curved faceplate. Chief among these is a greater power-handling capability which makes possible as much as a three-fold increase in brightness. The conventional curved shadow mask, which is not under tension, tends to "dome" in picture areas of high brightness where the intensity of the electron beam bombardment is greatest. Color impurities result as the mask moves closer to the faceplate and as the beam-passing apertures move out of registration with their associated phosphor elements on the faceplate. The tension mask when heated distorts in a manner quite different from the conventional mask. If the entire mask is heated uniformly, there is no doming and no distortion until tension is completely lost; just before that point, wrinkling may occur in the corners. If only portions of the mask are heated, those portions expand, and the unheated portions contract, resulting in displacements within the plane of the mask; i.e., the mask remains flat.
The tension foil shadow mask is a part of the cathode ray tube front assembly, and is located in spaced adjacency to the faceplate. The front assembly comprises the faceplate with its screen consisting of deposits of light-emitting phosphors, a shadow mask, and support means for the mask. As used herein, the term "shadow mask" means an apertured metallic foil which may, by way of example, be about one mil thick, or less. The mask must be supported in high tension a predetermined distance from the inner surface of the cathode ray tube faceplate; this distance is known as the "Q-distance." As is well known in the art, the shadow mask acts as a color-selection electrode or parallax barrier, which ensures that each of the three beams lands only on its assigned phosphor deposits on the screen.